8/24/2020

About the lab

Our Team

Goals of the lab

  • To implement new & emerging technologies to support data-driven decisionmaking
  • To collaborate with policymakers, academic insitutions and stakeholders to develop smart, socially just and healthy cities
  • To serve as a resource for Bloustein masters programs

Our Research

COVID-19 Movement and Mobility Patterns in NJ

  • Anonymized cell phone location data used to track visits to public spaces in NJ towns and counties

  • Report by Dean Thakuriah covered movement patterns during height of lockdown

Key findings

  • During March shutdown, visits fell 80% compared to beginning of the month
  • Northern and central counties had greatest decline
  • People spent more time and travelled farther to stores, stocking up at the start of the pandemic
  • Differences in food shopping apparent in areas with greater poverty
  • Future report will examine how NJ reopened from May to present.

NJ POI visit Dashboard

  • Dashboard created by Bloustein MPI / MCRP dual degree student Haoyun Wang as part of internship with RUCI
  • Tracks visits by ZIP code with comparisons to 2019 levels
  • Identified top brands for visits during the pandemic

COVID-19 in New York City

The Environmental Determinants of COVID-19

  • Linking COVID-19 data with census, social media and transit data
  • 11.5 million rows of data collected
  • Data Use Agreement signed with NYC to obtain more granular case / death data
  • Machine learning and modeling will be used to uncover trends in environmental factors impacting the spread of COVID.

Opportunities to get involved

  • We currently work with MPI, MCRP and MPP students
  • R, Python and Linux experience is highly desirable
  • Future opportunities to get involved will be announced soon

Q & A

Questions?

Learn More About RUCI